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10.000 refugee and migrant children missing: ALDE demands answers

Date

21 Apr 2016

Sections

Justice & Home Affairs

Reacting to EUROPOL's recent statement about the 10.000 refugee and migrant children who have disappeared during the last months, the ALDE Group in the European Parliament urges the European agency and Member States to clarify the situation of all the refugee and migrant minors once they enter European territory. MEP Hilde Vautmans, together with 45 members of the ALDE Group, demand clear information with regards to the registration of those minors and call on Member States to take measures to avoid these missing children ending up in criminal environments.

ALDE MEP Hilde Vautmans said: "This bureaucratic indifference cannot rule our moral standards. When a dog is missing, people post emergency messages on their Facebook pages. But when we are faced with the biggest number of displaced children since World War II, we all get lost in the myriad of institutions. It's a disgrace".

Cecilia Wikström, ALDE spokesperson for migration, said: "The information in some reports pointing out that at least 10 000 unaccompanied minors fleeing war and conflict have disappeared after arriving here is incredibly worrying and needs to be taken seriously."

"The national reception systems for unaccompanied minors need to be reviewed by EU member states in order to minimise the risk of children falling into the grip of criminals who exploit them".

Note to editors

In February 2016, 46 ALDE MEPs sent a written question urging the Council to react to Europol' s information. Today, Europol came to the LIBE committee to discuss this issue.